Tutorial: Creating a Realistic Wood Plank Texture in Substance Painter

In this tutorial, we’ll walk you through how to make a realistic wood plank texture in Substance Painter, using built-in tools, generators, and smart materials. By the end, you’ll have a procedural and adjustable wood texture you can use or adapt to many projects.

Step 1: Set Up the Project

1. Open Substance Painter and load your 3D model or use a built-in Sample Project such as the Tiling Material.
2. If you are using an external mesh, open the Texture Set Settings and bake the Texture Maps.

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Step 2: Apply a Base Material

1. Create a Fill layer and rename it to “Wood Plank Base”.
2. Change the base color to a dark brown. [#462D17]
3. Make sure all the Channels are activated (except metal).
4. Change the Roughness to 1.

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Step 3: Mid-tone Grain

• Use CTRL + D to duplicate the layer and rename it to “Mid-tone”. Change the base color to a mid-tone brown. [#7D4F27]
• Right-click on this Layer and add a Black Mask.
• Right-click on the Black Mask and add a fill.
• Search for “Directional Noise” and drag “Directional Noise 01” onto the grayscale of the properties panel.
• Change the balance and contrast parameters. [0.35, 0.05]

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Step 4: Light-tone Grain

1. Use CTRL + D to duplicate the layer and rename it to “Light-tone”.
2. Choose the fill and change the base color to a lighter-tone brown. [#AB6D37]
3. Change the balance and contrast parameters of the Directional Noise. [0.4, 0.1]

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Step 5: Dark-tone Grain

1. Use CTRL + D to duplicate the layer and rename it to “Dark-tone”.
2. Choose the fill and change the base color to a darker-tone brown. [#38210D]
3. Select the Black Mask and drag “Directional Noise 02” onto the grayscale of the properties panel.
4. Change the balance and contrast. [0.6, 0.2]

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Step 6: Planks   

1. Add a new Fill Layer to the top of the stack and name it “Planks”.
2. Right-click on the Fill Layer and Add a Black Mask.
3. Select the Black Mask and add a Fill
4. On the Grayscale Property, search for “Brick Generator”.
5. Change the Bevel Y to zero and the Offset Offset to zero.
6. Change the Bricks X to determine the number of planks you want. [2]
7. Changing the Bevel X will determine the gaps between the planks. [0.08]
8. If you want a bit of warping added to the planks, right-click on the Layer and add a Filter.
9. Add a “Warp” Filter to the Layer and change the Intensity. [0.125]
10. You can use the Blending Options for the Planks Layer to blend the Planks with the Base Color. [Color Dodge]
11. If you need to rotate the Planks, open the 2D View and use the Rotation Tool to rotate the Brick Generator.

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Step 7: Dirt and Weathering

1. Add a new Fill Layer to the top of the stack and name it “Grunge”.
2. Make sure all the Channels are activated (except metal).
3. Right-click on the Fill Layer and Add a Black Mask.
4. Right-click on the Black Mask and add a Fill.
5. Search for a “Dirt” Texture and drag-and-drop it onto the Grayscale. [Grunge Concrete Dirty]
6. Adjust the Grunge Properties to your liking. [Balance – 0.2, Contrast – 0.35Random Mode – True]
7. You can also change the Blending Modes and Transparency options for the Layer. [Screen, 75]

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Step 8: Saving as a Smart Material

You can easily save this material as a Smart Material for future use.

1. Add a Folder and name it appropriately.
   1. Move all the Layers into the Folder.
   1. Right-click on the Folder and choose ‘Create Smart Material’.

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Conclusion You’ve now created a fully customizable and procedural wood plank texture in Substance Painter! With the flexibility of Substance Painter’s layer system and procedural tools, you can iterate quickly and build exactly the look you need.